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OTIS
Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest and oldest manufacturer of elevators. The company was founded in 1854, in New York, USA by Elisha Graves Otis, who famously invented the safety mechanism of the elevator should the hoisting rope break. Otis have been making Lifts in New Zealand longer than anybody else. it is impossible to say when Otis first started making lifts here, but the oldest ones I have found so far are from around the 1920's-1930's. Otis has always been massive in New Zealand, as from the 1920's up until the 1970's-80's the only major competitor was Express. It wasn't until KONE and Schindler became big in the 80's and 90's that Otis found big competition. Today, Schindler is top-dog, while Otis comes a close second. 1900's-1920's - Bird Cage The early Otis lifts in New Zealand were metal cages with manually operated gates. Some of these early lifts would have been manually controlled, but many were later converted to automatic operation (pushing a button). In the 1920's, Otis were using their classic black push buttons which were used until the 1970's. These lifts were only Single Speed. Cage1.jpg|Classic Otis cage lift ButtonsWGO.png|Tradional Otis Black Buttons (Photo by WayGoodOtis) 1930's - Waygood-Otis In 1914, Otis acquired UK-based company Waygood & Co. and int he 1930's, the two made elevators in several countries under the joint name Waygood-Otis. Under this name, they made both Gated Lifts and Lifts with Automatic Doors. Otis dropped "Waygood" from the name in 1957, continuing on as just "Otis". The 1930's also saw the introduction of Leveling lifts, as opposed to single-Speed (which Otis still made until the 1940's) Gated Lifts: By the 1930's, Gated lifts now had a fully enclosed cab, and the shaft gate had been replaced by a manually operated door. Gated1.png Gated2.png Gated4.png Gated3.png vintageblue.jpg vintagebluecall.jpg ______________________________________________________________________________________ Lifts with Automatic doors: Otis developed the first lifts with Automatic doors in the 1920's, however they didn't make it to New Zealand until the 1930's. Sadly, I have not been able to find one in it's original condition. The closest I can find is this one, which was modernized by Otis in the 1960's. The buttons are almost identical to the original ones and the floor indicator is a 1960's addition. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Last gated lifts The very last gated Otis passenger lifts would have been made around the 30's-40's. These were generally the same as those made previously, but now features a gate that would open and close automatically. This was also around the time when Otis gen making floor indicators. These are simply metal strips with each floor listed, and each number or letter had a bulb behind it that would illuminate it when the lift was at that floor. Buttons.png|Photo by WaygoodOtis Gates.png Indicator.png ______________________________________________________________________________________ 40's - 50's: Automatic Lifts in the 1940's and 1950's, Otis continually made automatic passenger lifts. In this era, Otis still made a few single speed lifts, but by the 50's all of their lifts had leveling. These lifts continued the trend of black buttons and the traditional floor indicator (which some lifts did not have). whitelift.jpg whitecab.jpg cinemalift.jpg CinemaCab.jpg GreenDoors.png whitecall.jpg Buttons1.png Buttons2.png FloorIndicator.png ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1960's 1960's Otis lifts are surprising still very common. By this time, Floor Indicators were standard, a lot of lifts were much faster and the cab designs were starting to look more passenger friendly, as opposed to looking very industrial. On a design front, the lifts still looked a lot like those from the 50's, continuing to use the traditional black buttons. Blue.jpg Call.jpg Buttons.jpg Cabdesign.jpg DirectionalArrows.jpg Floorindicatornormal.png Outside.jpg Cab60otis.jpg floordisplaynoplastic.jpg ______________________________________________________________________________________ 60's-70's: Budget Design Otis made a VERY rare budget design of lift in the 60's and 70's. These lifts had a basic cab, white buttons and no floor indicator. ButtonsInside.png|Photo by WaygoodOtis Call.png|Photo by WaygoodOtis ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1970's: Lexan Design The 1970's saw Otis design make some changes. The lifts of the 70's had new motors and logic designs, and also featured a new button design. The design used was Otis's American fixture line, called "Lexan". These were the first ever Otis buttons to light up when pressed. They featured a halo around the outside of a black push button that lit up orange when pressed. The early Lexan lifts used the same floor indicator as the 1960's, but later this changed to one with illuminating squares instead. In the late 70's, Otis switched to using Digital floor indicators. These were either Orange Segments displays (Asian Design) or Green LED Displays (Australian Design). GreenLifts.jpg CallButtonsLexan.jpg ButtonsLexan.png ButtonsLexan2.png OldIndicator.png Squareindicator.png SegmentInside.jpg LEDlexan.png ExtIndi.jpg ArrowsOut.jpg SegmentOutside.jpg ______________________________________________________________________________________ Hydraulic: All of the videos above show Traction lifts, as I wanted to show off some of the best videos I have of each 70's Design. But I couldn't resist also showing you this video I have of a nice Hydraulic 70's Otis. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Manual-Door Freight Lifts: At Victoria University, there are some Hydraulic Otis freight lifts from the 70's with manual doors. One of these has pre-lexan, and the other has Lexan call stations with new buttons inside. ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1970's: Touch Sensitive Otis invented the first touch-sensitive buttons in the 1950's. The made two versions - round and square. Both designs have a black touch area with an illuminating orange halo, similar to Otis Lexan buttons. All other features of the lifts remain the same as in other 1970's Otis lifts. ButtonsTouchRound1.jpg Cabinside.jpg Insdie Indicator.jpg Outside Indicator.jpg OutsideOne.jpg OutsideTwo.jpg LiftDoors.jpg interiorsquare.png Notlit.jpg lit.jpg ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1980's: Total makeover! The 1980's was a turning point for Otis, in which they made a complete revamp in their style. everything from the doors, cab design, fixtures and more was all re-designed. The 1980's is also when Hydraulic lifts first became popular for low-rise applications, so a lot of Hydraulic lifts were made during the 1980's. Otis used a completed new fixture line - Series 1. These buttons feature a black plastic frame with the floor letter/number on it, and then the button itself is a white plastic buttons with a bulb behind it. Series 1 buttons can light up either white or red. The floor indicator is a Digital segment indicator, usually green but sometimes red. Some very early 80's Otis lifts used a small analogue indicator instead. Series 1 lifts in New Zealand have two variations. A full-design panel with slanted buttons and indicators for Traction lifts, and a more basic design used for Hydraulic lifts and modernization. Series 1 buttons were also used for the Elevonic range and for modernizations. 80slift.jpg Callbut80.jpg 80'sbuttons.jpg olddisplay.png|Old Analogue floor indicator Greensegmentdisplay80.png RedIndicator80.jpg Redbutton80.png elevonic.png elevonicdisplay.png ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1990's: Concave Buttons Early 1990's Otis lifts used mainly the same design, but featured Otis's new buttons. These are silver, round concave buttons, with a label for the floor next to them. There are two types of concave buttons. the standard ones use an illuminating halo, with either green or red LED's. The other type is the vandal-resistant version, which uses a single LED in the centre of the button. Sadly, I have not been able to find many of these. The only ones I have found are service only lifts and also the ones in the NZ Parliament Buildings (where I cannot film). I have, however found some old Otis lifts that have been modernized in the 1990's, so here are some pictures! classic1.jpg Hospitalpurp.jpg classic2.jpg ModdedHospi.png classic4.png Vandal.png classic3.png externalclassic.jpg The video selected for this section is an old lifts that have been modernized - it is NOT original 90's lift. ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1990's - Mixed Design In the later part of the 90's, OTIS made lifts that were based on their 1980's style of Hydraulic lift, but used modern concave buttons and European Indicators. I originally considered these to be a modernization, but I have come to the belief that these are actually original lifts. Modern1.png ModernButtons.jpg Modernindi.png ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1990's: Dewhurst In the 1990's, Otis used Dewhurst buttons for some of it's modernization. I do not know of any 90's Otis lifts that used Dewhurst from new. OtisBarellDew1.jpg OtisBarellDew2.jpg OtisBarellDew3.jpg OtisDew1.jpg OtisDew2.jpg OtisDew3.jpg 1990's: Otis 2000 The Otis 2000 was invented in 1993, and came in 3 variations. The Otis 2000 was the standard Traction version, the Otis 2000 VF was a traction lift with variable frequency, and finally, the Otis 2000 H was the Hydraulic version. So far, I have only found the Hydraulic Otis 2000 H lifts in New Zealand. Otis 2000 lifts use the new silver buttons on a tall panel. This panel can be either a full-panel with lights down the side of the panel (there is a vandal resistant version of this as well), or it can be just a basic silver panel. All of the ones I have found use the standard panel with lights down the side. The floor indicator is usually a blue & white LCD segment display, but can also be a black & yellow LCD screen. Outside2000H.jpg CallButton.jpg Cabview.jpg Buttons2000.jpg Indicator.jpg ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1998-Present: Gen2 MRL An MRL (Machine Room Less) is a Traction lift with a very small motor, so small that it can fit inside the lift shaft without the need for a motor room. Otis launched their MRL design - the Gen 2 - in 2000. Otis very different designs of fixtures, depending on whether the lift is European or Asian style. The most common type of Gen2 in New Zealand is the Asian Style. Otis Gen2's in New Zealand use the Asian style fixtures, which are the standard silver buttons on a flat, surface mounted panel with an LED Segment floor indicator. Sometimes, other buttons have been used instead, but this is VERY rare. Sometimes OTIS will use their blue & white LCD floor indicator on this design instead of the usual segment one. AsianGen27.jpg AsianGen23.jpg DSCN1687.JPG DSCN1689.JPG AsianGen24.jpg AsianGen26.jpg DSCN1688.JPG AsianGen21.jpg AsianGen22.jpg DSCN1691.JPG RedIndi.png|VERY RARE - Red Segement Floor Indicator AsianGen25.jpg DSCN1690.JPG unknownone.png unknowntwo.png Bluedisplay3.png Bluedisplay1.png Bluedisplay2.png ______________________________________________________________________________________ Rare: European Gen2 I have found ONE European style Otis Gen 2 at Christchurch Airport. This lift uses a full-height panel, with no lights. It has blue concave buttons and uses the Black & white LCD display. Gen2one.png Gen2two.png ______________________________________________________________________________________ 2016-Present: Otis ReGen (Gen 2) The "ReGen" system collects wasted energy from the drive system (which would usually be expelled as heat) and feeds it back into the building's electrical grid. Otis ReGen uses Gen2 MRL motors. Otis Regen lifts often use the same fixtures as other Otis lifts, but more recently I've seen a couple with a new indicator design.....and STEP buttons. The first 4 photos were actually taken in Samoa, rather than New Zealand, but the design is exactly the same. DSCN1466.JPG DSCN1468.JPG DSCN1472.JPG DSCN1471.JPG DSCN2635.JPG DSCN2636.JPG DSCN2637.JPG DSCN2638.JPG DSCN2639.JPG DSCN2640.JPG DSCN2642.JPG DSCN2644.JPG DSCN2647.JPG DSCN2648.JPG DSCN2649.JPG DSCN2650.JPG DSCN2651.JPG DSCN2645.JPG ______________________________________________________________________________________ 2005-Present: Otis Compass Compass is the name for Otis's Destination Dispatch system, which was invented to make high-rise lifts more efficient. To operate it, you enter the floor you want to go to, before getting into the lift. The computer then assigns you a lift, based on where you want to go. It makes high-rise elevator travel MUCH more efficient. Compassone.jpg Compasstwo.jpg DSCN2725.JPG ______________________________________________________________________________________ Modernization: Otis use their concave buttons in a lot of modernizations. These can be accompanied by either a European style Blue LCD floor indicator or a Generic LCD floor indicator. bluemodded.jpg Bluedeisgn.jpg ModeedBlue.jpg Greenbuttonsotis.jpg DSCN0458.JPG DSCN0452.JPG Cabblue.jpg Blueindicatorotis.jpg GenericDisplay.jpg ______________________________________________________________________________________ Dewhurst & Everbright: While Otis hasn't used Dewhurst or Everbright buttons too much, there are a number of lifts that were either installed or modernized with them. Westytwo.jpg Westythree.jpg Whittcoulls.png DSCN0442.JPG DSCN0434.JPG Green.png DSCN0435.JPG DSCN0441.JPG Dewhurstdisplayone.jpg Westyone.jpg DSCN2660.JPG DSCN2659.JPG DSCN2666.JPG DSCN2657.JPG DSCN2667.JPG ______________________________________________________________________________________